madjack
11-06-2002, 03:11 AM
Lewis finishes Tyson for good
By ROBERT LUSETICH
10jun02
The Australian
WHAT began as a superfight destined to capture the world's imagination ended as a requiem for a heavyweight, an epitaph written in Mike Tyson's own blood.
With blood streaming from cuts above both eyes and his nose, the myth of boxing's dark prince and his relevance as a true contender was ruthlessly and completely destroyed at the Pyramid arena in Memphis yesterday by the reigning world champion Lennox Lewis.
After receiving the worst beating of his career before a near capacity arena, Tyson, who is about to turn 36, apologised to Lewis for his various antics and asked for a rematch.
"He's a magnificent, a prolific fighter and I respect him," said a contrite Tyson, who kissed Lewis's mother on the cheek and wiped blood from the cheek of the British champion during a strangely upbeat post-bout interview. "I hope he will give me another chance."
But Tyson's cry seemed more like a last desperate act of a deeply troubled man who does not want to face his final curtain more than a legitimate opportunity for revenge.
"He was thoroughly beaten in every way," Lewis's trainer Emmanuel Steward said of Tyson. "Spiritually, physically, mentally, he was beaten in every way. I could see after the first round he was fatigued, he was beaten, he was destroyed inside. I feel for Mike because he's been great for boxing but what happened tonight to him was shocking to see.
"That might have been the longest, most systematic beating in the history of heavyweight boxing.
"There is no reason at all for Lennox Lewis to fight Mike Tyson again. His course has run. Mike is done."
The indelible image of Tyson, more than a decade removed from the menacing, powerful beast whose rule of this division was a reign of terror, will be of him flat on his back staring blankly at the ceiling, after being caught by a crunching right hook in the eighth round.
And then of referee Eddie Cotton cradling Tyson like a hurt child against his chest as he took him back to his corner after the knock out, the third of Tyson's career.
Like his idol, the scowling thug Sonny Liston, Tyson was exposed as an aged, one-dimensional fighter by Lewis, whose stature as a heavyweight champion grew enormously with an impressive, resolute and commanding performance.
"What more do you want me to do?" the triumphant Lewis said, dedicating his win to the English football team at the World Cup and to the Queen on her Jubilee.
"We got off to a sticky start because he was trying to intimidate me and I wanted to show him I wouldn't be intimidated. But once I established my jab, I realised it was just a matter of time."
The only round Tyson won on any judges' scorecard was the first, when he came out and charged Lewis, igniting the pro-American crowd, including an A-list of Hollywood celebrities mingling ringside with shady characters (where else would you see David Hasselhoff sitting a few seats away from a man wearing the colours of the New York chapter of the Hell's Angels?).
But whatever vestiges the fans were clinging to of the mythical Mike Tyson were soon replaced with the harsh reality that Tyson's only chance in this fight was to land a lucky punch.
Lewis used his reach advantage to devastating effect as he continually caught the shorter Tyson as he tried to come inside. Particularly effective for Lewis was the right uppercut, which unsettled Tyson throughout the almost eight rounds.
By the third round, Lewis was jabbing Tyson at will, almost toying with the former bully of the ring.
By the late rounds, Tyson was fighting on reputation alone. His trademark bobbing, weaving style which made him so difficult to catch when he became the youngest heavyweight champion at 20 was gone.
Instead Tyson moved directly forward, when he wasn't stationary, and Lewis picked him off with surgical precision.
When Tyson landed a rare shot, a left hook, in the third round, Lewis dropped his hands, a la Ali, as if to say, Is that it? Is that all you have? Lewis mocked Tyson several times from the fourth round onwards as this deconstruction of Mike Tyson verged on humiliation.
The story of this one-sided bout can be told statistically: Lewis threw a total of 328 punches, connecting on 193 at a clip of 59 per cent. Tyson threw barely more than Lewis connected with (211) and only hit Lewis with 49. A success rate, if it can be called that, of 23 per cent.
Tyson was standing purely on hubris by the eighth round. After 48 seconds, Lewis, his hands down by his side, knowing the end was near, doubled over Tyson with a crunching right uppercut.
Tyson was on the ropes shortly after being given a standing eight count by referee Eddie Cotton – even though no standing eight count was in effect, one of a few examples in which Cotton appeared to be giving Tyson a break – and then with fifteen seconds left, Lewis finished him off.
Whether Tyson likes it or not, Lewis finished him off for good.
By ROBERT LUSETICH
10jun02
The Australian
WHAT began as a superfight destined to capture the world's imagination ended as a requiem for a heavyweight, an epitaph written in Mike Tyson's own blood.
With blood streaming from cuts above both eyes and his nose, the myth of boxing's dark prince and his relevance as a true contender was ruthlessly and completely destroyed at the Pyramid arena in Memphis yesterday by the reigning world champion Lennox Lewis.
After receiving the worst beating of his career before a near capacity arena, Tyson, who is about to turn 36, apologised to Lewis for his various antics and asked for a rematch.
"He's a magnificent, a prolific fighter and I respect him," said a contrite Tyson, who kissed Lewis's mother on the cheek and wiped blood from the cheek of the British champion during a strangely upbeat post-bout interview. "I hope he will give me another chance."
But Tyson's cry seemed more like a last desperate act of a deeply troubled man who does not want to face his final curtain more than a legitimate opportunity for revenge.
"He was thoroughly beaten in every way," Lewis's trainer Emmanuel Steward said of Tyson. "Spiritually, physically, mentally, he was beaten in every way. I could see after the first round he was fatigued, he was beaten, he was destroyed inside. I feel for Mike because he's been great for boxing but what happened tonight to him was shocking to see.
"That might have been the longest, most systematic beating in the history of heavyweight boxing.
"There is no reason at all for Lennox Lewis to fight Mike Tyson again. His course has run. Mike is done."
The indelible image of Tyson, more than a decade removed from the menacing, powerful beast whose rule of this division was a reign of terror, will be of him flat on his back staring blankly at the ceiling, after being caught by a crunching right hook in the eighth round.
And then of referee Eddie Cotton cradling Tyson like a hurt child against his chest as he took him back to his corner after the knock out, the third of Tyson's career.
Like his idol, the scowling thug Sonny Liston, Tyson was exposed as an aged, one-dimensional fighter by Lewis, whose stature as a heavyweight champion grew enormously with an impressive, resolute and commanding performance.
"What more do you want me to do?" the triumphant Lewis said, dedicating his win to the English football team at the World Cup and to the Queen on her Jubilee.
"We got off to a sticky start because he was trying to intimidate me and I wanted to show him I wouldn't be intimidated. But once I established my jab, I realised it was just a matter of time."
The only round Tyson won on any judges' scorecard was the first, when he came out and charged Lewis, igniting the pro-American crowd, including an A-list of Hollywood celebrities mingling ringside with shady characters (where else would you see David Hasselhoff sitting a few seats away from a man wearing the colours of the New York chapter of the Hell's Angels?).
But whatever vestiges the fans were clinging to of the mythical Mike Tyson were soon replaced with the harsh reality that Tyson's only chance in this fight was to land a lucky punch.
Lewis used his reach advantage to devastating effect as he continually caught the shorter Tyson as he tried to come inside. Particularly effective for Lewis was the right uppercut, which unsettled Tyson throughout the almost eight rounds.
By the third round, Lewis was jabbing Tyson at will, almost toying with the former bully of the ring.
By the late rounds, Tyson was fighting on reputation alone. His trademark bobbing, weaving style which made him so difficult to catch when he became the youngest heavyweight champion at 20 was gone.
Instead Tyson moved directly forward, when he wasn't stationary, and Lewis picked him off with surgical precision.
When Tyson landed a rare shot, a left hook, in the third round, Lewis dropped his hands, a la Ali, as if to say, Is that it? Is that all you have? Lewis mocked Tyson several times from the fourth round onwards as this deconstruction of Mike Tyson verged on humiliation.
The story of this one-sided bout can be told statistically: Lewis threw a total of 328 punches, connecting on 193 at a clip of 59 per cent. Tyson threw barely more than Lewis connected with (211) and only hit Lewis with 49. A success rate, if it can be called that, of 23 per cent.
Tyson was standing purely on hubris by the eighth round. After 48 seconds, Lewis, his hands down by his side, knowing the end was near, doubled over Tyson with a crunching right uppercut.
Tyson was on the ropes shortly after being given a standing eight count by referee Eddie Cotton – even though no standing eight count was in effect, one of a few examples in which Cotton appeared to be giving Tyson a break – and then with fifteen seconds left, Lewis finished him off.
Whether Tyson likes it or not, Lewis finished him off for good.